Definition of Cloche Hat
A cloche hat is a bell-shaped hat, typically made out of felt or cloth to form fit the wearer's head. Cloche hats experienced their fashion ascendancy between 1920 and 1930.
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The Designer
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Cloche hats took their name from the French word for "bell."
hat image by Emmanuel Lacoste from Fotolia.com
The cloche hat was developed in 1908 by iconic French designer Caroline Reboux. Ms. Reboux specialized in hats of all kinds and considered the hat a central accessory to women's fashion. By 1916, cloche hats were a common fixture of women's wardrobes.
Meaning
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Cloche hats even developed their own decorative language.
spring hat image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
Much like a flower in the hair of a Hawaiian girl, judiciously arranged ribbons on a lady's cloche hat came to communicate subtle social messages, such as whether the lady was single, betrothed or married.
Decoration
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The style of the brim shrank, revealing more of the wearer's face.
cute woman with hat image by csaba fikker from Fotolia.com
By the 1920s, cloche hat decoration had expanded beyond ribbon messages to include art deco elements, including flowers and stylized Egyptian iconography.
Changes in Style
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The cloche hat lost popularity during the feminist movement.
in a hat image by aprilira from Fotolia.com
By 1929, during the nascent days of the feminist movement, the bell-flange brim of the cloche hat had completely disappeared. This gave the hat a helmet-like quality that was popularized by artists like Josephine Baker and Enid Stamp-Taylor.
The Style Passes
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The vintage cloche element is still present in modern fashion.
straw hat with ribbon image by Mark Grenier from Fotolia.com
Women, preferring to show off their hair rather than hide it under a now helmet-shaped cloche, stopped wearing the once fashionable hat. By 1935, the cloche hat disappeared from the fashion world. The cloche hat remains the iconic fashion accessory of the 1920s and early '30s.
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- Photo Credit hat image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com hat image by Emmanuel Lacoste from Fotolia.com spring hat image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com cute woman with hat image by csaba fikker from Fotolia.com in a hat image by aprilira from Fotolia.com straw hat with ribbon image by Mark Grenier from Fotolia.com
